Category: Creative Writing

For those of you who think in sounds or words the problems you will face are vastly different from writers who are visual. Now there are pros and cons to being an auditory thinker. Classically, most writers ARE auditory, but there are many successful writers who are also visual. Why is this so? Well, it Read more about What’s Your Thinking Style? AUDITORY![…]

Writers who are visual often claim they have “writer’s block“. The reason is quite simple: Visual people have hot and intense visual narratives running through their mind’s eye: the moment they put a pen in their hand and touch nib to paper or fingers to keyboard keys their imagination flags. How is it possible to Read more about What’s Your Thinking Style? VISUAL![…]

Often, when teaching creative writing, this is the first question I ask. Why is it so important? I think that your thinking style sets out how you will write, the difficulties you will face, and knowing what style you think in will enhance your writing. But what do I mean, by thinking style? Well, let Read more about What’s Your Thinking Style?[…]

Lyra Belacqua shines brightly in this the diamond in Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” Trilogy. Lyra is one of the most amazing and feisty female characters in children’s fiction. “The Subtle Knife” and “The Amber Spyglass” are dimmed by its brilliance. The trilogy is based on “Paradise Lost“, Milton’s epic English poem written in blank Read more about Northern Lights – Philip Pullman[…]

Dear Writer, here are some golden tips for shaping your writing, whether you’re polishing a short story or a fifty book series: 1. Remove dialogue tags such as “said” – most of these are redundant or to put it another way, dialogue should speak for itself. 2. Delete weasle words such as: very little pretty Read more about Editing: Super Tips[…]

One of the biggest challenges any writer faces is determining which “voice” is apt to tell his or her tale. Now, when I talk about “voice” I’m not referring to “Point of View“, that is, whether a story is told through a first person narrative, a third person omniscient perspective and so on. No, I’m Read more about How to use Robin Hood to Write Your Own Story[…]

Novelists invariably have to write a synopsis. It is true that many great writers probably never wrote one, but I can assure that agents and publishers always want to see one. Many who have chosen the world of the pen as their journey, sometimes find it difficult to understand what a synopsis is, why it Read more about The Spoken Synopsis[…]

If you are a published writer then there is something I strongly recommend you do that could absolutely alter – for the better – your experience of the writing life. I believe it’s a sad world we live in when those who create entire worlds for others are paid a pittance, but such is our Read more about What Published Writers MUST do[…]

I’m going to reveal a big secret, perhaps the biggest of all. It’s as sharp and tingly as a slap in the face, it’s simply this: Writing is not writing. “Eh?” You gasp, “Zahid’s lost it this time. He’s joined the Circus of the Lunatics”. Let me explain. Writing is not about taking a pen Read more about The Biggest Secret of Writing[…]

I am a firm believer that Writer’s Block doesn’t exist. Or rather, I choose to believe it doesn’t. However, that’s only partially true: it’s true for me, but it might not be for you. Like many things, it’s all about your state of mind. If I could guarantee that with the click of your fingers Read more about The W Spot[…]